NFL Player News

Continuing his recent hot play, Love took advantage of a struggling Lions defense for maybe the best overall start of his career. The Packers’ very first snap was an under-thrown Love deep ball to Christian Watson that went in the books as a 53-yard completion but could have been a 75-yard touchdown with more air underneath it. Love nevertheless rallied to find Jayden Reed four plays later for a 10-yard score. He would later find Tucker Kraft for a nine-yarder and Watson for a 16-yarder, threading all sorts of needles in between. That included an absurd cross-body, cross-field completion in the fourth quarter. Playing with renewed confidence and improved accuracy the past few weeks, Love is changing his first-year starting narrative in real time. He does have a tough Week 13 matchup in the Chiefs. It will be difficult to stream him in that one, though six teams are on bye that Sunday.

The Georgia Gazette noted Smith was booked on May 15th for speeding in excess of maximum limits and reckless driving. The 25-year-old was driving 137 miles per hour in a 70 mile-per-hour zone in his home state of Georgia, where he also attended the University of Georgia to play college football. It is still undetermined if the NFL or the Eagles have some form of punishment for Smith, but he is set to enter a pivotal year with the Eagles picking up his fifth-year option last month.

McFadden reports that Cousins took the majority of the first team reps in Raiders practice on Wednesday. Meanwhile, No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza “played mostly with the rookies and the third team.” Head coach Klint Kubiak does not yet have a timeline to name a starter, but McFadden notes that Kubiak, general manager John Spytek, and minority owner Tom Brady are believers in letting a young quarterback sit behind a veteran initially. Cousins signed with the Raiders before the draft after parting ways with the Falcons in the offseason. The 37-year-old has started games with every team he has played with and this will likely continue to be the case. Mendoza is slated to sit to start the 2026 season, though we wouldn’t rule out the Indiana product starting by the time the Raiders’ Week 13 bye week rolls around.

Ahmed suffered a gruesome ankle injury on a hip-drop tackle in training camp prior to the start of last season. He missed all of 2025 and has not seen an NFL field since 2023. Starting his career with the Dolphins, Ahmed hopped around the Broncos and Colts rosters the last two seasons and will now look to make the Bears roster coming off a major ankle injury.

Boerkircher was the No. 56 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and will compete for the team’s TE2 role. He is primarily a blocking tight end and is unlikely to have fantasy-relevancy as a pass-catcher. However, his blocking utilization will play a key role in the Jaguars’ rushing attack and efficiency for Chris Rodriguez and Bhayshul Tuten in the backfield. With Boerkircher signing his rookie contract, the entire Jaguars 2026 rookie class is signed.

Crosby underwent knee surgery at the start of the offseason and has been working his way back since. The Ravens were set to acquire the 28-year-old pass rusher before a failed physical due to concerns with his knee nixed the deal. Crosby is instead back with the Raiders and continuing to rehab after the knee ended his 2025 season early. New head coach Klint Kubiak said the goal is to have Crosby back and healthy by training camp.

Wilson signed a two-year deal with the Saints in 2024. They cut him after one season and he bounced between their practice squad and active roster for the first month of the year. Miami then poached him off their practice squad after Tyreek Hill suffered a season-ending injury. Wilson appeared in 10 games for Miami and totaled five catches for 44 yards. Wilson isn’t much more than a depth option at this point in his career. He will be fighting for a roster spot in training camp.

Are there robots in heaven? And why are they built to play football? Either way, it’s clear Kubiak thinks highly of his superstar tight end. He added that the team needs to get the most out of Bowers this year. It doesn’t take a detective to figure out Bowers will be the centerpiece of this team’s passing attack. The receiver room is led by Tre Tucker and Jalen Nailor. Both players are primarily deep threats who have never been the focal point of a pro offense. Even after a down 2025 season, Bowers is comfortably in the TE1 overall conversation in early fantasy drafts.

For the first time in a long time, Rodgers isn’t stringing anyone along or drawing out a decision for months. When asked if this was his final year, Rodgers responded point-blank, “Yes. This is it.” He told reporters he thought he was done after Mike Tomlin walked away, but the hiring of Mike McCarthy eventually changed his mind. Rodgers did, however, wait until after the draft and then some to make his decision. The hope for Steelers fans is that McCarthy will get more out of Rodgers than Arthur Smith did, though we remain skeptical that there is much left in the tank as Rodgers enters his age-43 season.

In a video from Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, Judkins appears to be moving quite well for a player recovering from a fractured fibula and a broken ankle. He suffered the injuries in Week 16 of his rookie season and was expected to miss 4-5 months. A mid-May return puts him on the early end of that timeline. Barring a surprise, Judkins should be full-go for the start of training camp. He was on pace for over 1,000 yards from scrimmage before missing the final two games of 2025. Fantasy managers can treat him as a volume-based RB2 in early drafts.

Harvey is among the Jaguars beats who appear deeply skeptical of a recent report about the team trading BTJ for A.J. Brown in the coming weeks. Brown, long unhappy with his usage in the Eagles offense, remains a favorite to land with New England this summer. “Why would the Jags trade for a player who wants to always be targeted when their offense does not have a No. 1 WR by design?” Harvey said, referring to the mercurial Brown. “And they’re loading up to deploy more tight ends and Parker Washington is set for an extension and they just gave Jakobi Meyers one and they aren’t trading BTJ.” After going for nearly 1,300 yards and ten touchdowns as a rookie in 2024, Thomas fell off big time in 2025, finishing the season with 707 yards and two scores and operating as the third or fourth option in the Jags’ pass-catching pecking order. It would be a stunner if the Jaguars were to give up on Thomas, 23, after one down year.